


Eyes On The Prize

by Haberdasher



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Avatar OC, Gen, Institute OC, Major Original Character(s), Nonbinary Character, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, POV Original Character, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23284552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haberdasher/pseuds/Haberdasher
Summary: An American seeks out the Magnus Institute in the hopes of joining with them for purposes of their own.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Eyes On The Prize

Andrea Perez had had their fair share of job interviews over the years already, but as they entered the Magnus Institute, wearing the nicest suit they could afford on short notice (which wasn’t saying much), they knew that the one they were about to have would be utterly unlike any of its predecessors.

A woman with a wide smile and a dark bob was manning the front desk. Her outfit was closer to business casual than Andrea’s own, and they half-expected a name tag (though none was visible at a glance) simply due to the nature of the position; she was clearly just a go-to person for random visitors who happened to wander into the place... which, Andrea supposed, included themself at the moment. “Welcome to the Magnus Institute! How may I be of assistance?”

Andrea tapped their fingernails on the desk as they responded. “I’m here to meet the head of the Institute--Elias Bouchard, isn’t it?”

“Do you have an appointment?”

Andrea shook their head, though a wry smile made its way onto their face. “No, but I imagine he’ll want to meet me just the same.”

The woman started to open her mouth, doubtlessly to protest, but Andrea spoke before she could. “I know he was originally planning on a visit from one Maria Vespucci in five minutes, but unfortunately Ms. Vespucci’s just gotten herself in a car wreck--nobody was seriously hurt, but it’ll take some time to work out--so there should be an opening in his schedule.”

Andrea pronounced schedule the American way, a way they hadn’t heard anyone say it since stepping off the plane in Heathrow, though they figured that they probably had enough of an accent to make it clear they weren’t from around here anyway. _They_ didn’t think they had an accent, of course, but nobody ever does, do they? It’s everybody else who has a funny accent, everybody else that pronounces words weirdly and phrases things awkwardly sometimes, not the normal way like _you_ do.

Andrea liked to think they knew better than to get stuck in that sort of mindset.

“Can you wait one moment...” The woman trailed off, and Andrea realized that she was waiting for their name.

“Andrea Perez. Mx. Perez, if you prefer. And sure, I can wait. Take all the time you need, Rosie, I’m in no rush.”

Andrea stepped to the side, futzing absentmindedly with their cell phone mostly for appearance’s sake, to make sure Rosie didn’t think they were just standing around eavesdropping on her call. Which they sort of were, really, but they didn’t really need to hear the details anyway, able to pick up enough from tone of voice and Rosie’s facial expressions to guess how the conversation (or should that be conversations, plural?) was going. The claims they had made were all entirely accurate, and it seemed that Rosie was in the process of learning as much.

After a few minutes of hushed, hurried phone conversation, Rosie hung up and looked over at Andrea. “Mx. Perez?”

Andrea walked back towards the front desk. “Yes?”

“Mr. Bouchard has agreed to see you. His office is up that way-” Rosie pointed towards a set of stairs. “-and it’ll be the first door on the left. The door’s labeled, too, so it’s hard to miss.”

Andrea smiled slightly. “I’m glad to hear it. Thank you for your help, Rosie.”

Andrea was pretty sure they could feel Rosie staring at them as they went up the flight of stairs she had indicated, but that was alright by them. After all, if they minded the feeling of being stared at that much, they wouldn’t have made the trip here in the first place.

The door was indeed labeled as Rosie had promised, but it didn’t have Elias Bouchard’s name on it, the sign instead simply reading “Head of the Magnus Institute.” They knocked on the door twice, but opened it even before they heard a voice calling out, “Come in.”

Elias Bouchard looked almost exactly as Andrea had expected him to. They hadn’t known what he’d look like, but they’d pictured a mediocre-looking, rich old white guy given what they knew about his position, and their mental image didn’t fall far from the mark.

Andrea closed the door behind them and took a seat in the unoccupied chair within the office before Elias had a chance to offer it to them. The chair was comfortable, plush, probably expensive.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before, have we?” His voice sounded more certain than his words would indicate, and it was true enough that the two of them were strangers, except for all the ways in which they weren’t.

Andrea shook their head and extended their hand towards Elias. “Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure. My name’s Andrea Perez.”

“And I’m Elias Bouchard, though I imagine you already know that much.” Did he emphasize the word _know_ ever so slightly there, or was Andrea imagining it? Either way, they didn’t have long to dwell upon it before he took them up on the offer of a handshake. Elias Bouchard’s handshake was... firm. Business-like. Unsurprising, really. Probably the same handshake he’d given hundreds of times over the years.

Andrea looked Elias Bouchard in the eyes as they said, “Are you, though?”

“What do you mean?”

Andrea bit the inside of their lip, hoping that the gesture wouldn’t be visible to their conversation partner, though concealing it entirely might be more than they could manage if their guesses regarding what he was truly capable of were accurate. “That’s not the first name you’ve gone by, is it? I don’t know what your real name is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not that.”

Elias Bouchard, or whatever his real name was, had one hell of a poker face, not even blinking (though, in a way, it made sense that he didn’t _blink_ of all things) as he replied, “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course not.” They could feel it, though. His face might not have given much away, but they could _feel_ that they’d gained a foothold in what was certainly an uphill climb of a conversation.

“What brings you to the Institute today, Mx. Perez?”

Andrea didn’t hesitate. “I want to work here.”

Elias raised an eyebrow. “You must know this isn’t standard hiring procedure. There are applications to fill out, first off, and I’m not the usual interviewer for most positions-”

“Sure, sure, but I figured speaking to you directly might be more productive. I’m a bit of an unusual case, you see.”

“I’m sure any number of job applicants would say the same.” There was a wry grin on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Though admittedly, few of them hop a transcontinental flight to make their case.”

Alright, so they had an American accent, that much they knew, but... “How do you know I came here just for this? Not on vacation, not living here for years beforehand?”

“I think you know the answer to that question, Mx. Perez.” This time, Andrea was sure he had emphasized the word _know_ in his response, and his eyes had a strange, bright gleam to them that hadn’t been there before.

Perhaps they had his attention for real now.

“If you can know bits of my personal life that easily... I think you might be more interested in something that started a few weeks after my twenty-fourth birthday.”

They looked him in the eyes and waited for his response, waited for it all to click. Unless they were wrong, of course, unless that sort of thing was beyond him...

But it wasn’t, because his grin grew wider and that gleam in his eyes grew even brighter in a matter of moments.

“Right you are. Fascinating, that is, but it still doesn’t explain why you came from the suburbs of Chicago all the way here.”

Time to put all their cards on the table, then, even though they weren’t sure if they had a winning hand, weren’t even sure what game it was they were playing. They knew so much, but still the bigger picture always seemed to elude them...

“I thought I was the only one like me, like this-” _Like us_ , they thought but didn’t dare voice out loud, because Elias Bouchard (”Elias Bouchard”) was still definitely the stronger of the two of them, the one with the power in this conversation, and they didn’t want to risk offending him. “-for years on end. I did what I could, stumbled onto what knowledge I could find on my own, made my own way in the world, but I’ve grown tired of forging my own path. And not too long ago I learned about your Institute, learned that we’re connected, and, well, I don’t want to do this on my own anymore.”

“Quite right.” Elias Bouchard replied, the response coming faster than Andrea had anticipated. “Wouldn’t want to start getting lonely, now, would we?”

His face contorted itself like he had just made a joke and was waiting on laughter from his audience, but any humor in his speech was lost on Andrea, who just shot him a tight smile.

“I suppose not, no. And I think we’d both be better off if we worked together.”

“An interesting proposition.” Elias steepled his fingers before adding, “Were you aware that we have a sister institution in your own country?”

Andrea couldn’t entirely stifle their gasp. It figured, that somehow they’d learned about a kindred spirit halfway across the world, but not one in their own neck of the woods. Knowledge could be tricky like that, a lesson they’d learned all too well in the past few years. What you needed to know and what you wanted to know and what you actually would know always seemed to be three distinct things, with overlap between the three categories being more coincidence than anything else.

“It’s called the Usher Foundation, located in Washington, D.C. We’re on good terms with them, so I can certainly pass along your information if you’d like.”

Andrea drummed their fingers on the desk as they tried to take in the new information and new options available to them. “I... I’ll have to think about it.”

“Go right ahead. Oh, but I don’t mean to turn you down, if that’s what you’re thinking. If you still want to work here in the Magnus Institute, I believe we have a researcher position open that would likely suit your needs. But I can’t say that I’d blame you if you don’t want to stay on this side of the pond. That’s entirely up to you.”

Andrea continued drumming their fingers with increased energy, trying to make their hand move as quickly as their brain. They’d come all the way here, and it seemed a bit silly to go right back to the States, especially since they probably wouldn’t be getting their plane fare back... but then again, they’d never been to England before, barely knew the country except by hearsay, and remaining in it would be quite the adjustment...

A sure thing here, or a new attempt there...

Finally, Andrea made their decision, forcing a grin they didn’t entirely feel onto their face as they did so. “You know what? London seems like a nice enough town. I think I’d like to stick around a bit longer.”

Elias was the first to extend his hand for a handshake this time. “Well then, Mx. Perez, welcome aboard.”


End file.
